The Unused Closet on the Third Floor
by FrankandJoe3
Summary: What else were they supposed to do with a closet full of pillows?


**It's not unusual for me to email myself, or text myself for that matter. There's always stuff that I need to remember that I can't rely on friends to remind me. Sometimes though, I'll forget that I emailed or texted myself in the first place, which leads to a series with an unforeseeable end titled: "When the Hell Did I Find This?". This particular art piece is by sarahj-art on Tumblr as a part of her "Ordinary Batman Adventure" series. It took a bit of digging to find all that, but this is me saying that I don't own the picture and that you should check her stuff out. It's pretty funny.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the mentioned characters or the art. **

* * *

Six years later, Dick still wasn't used to having a butler. The idea of having to depend on someone else to clean up after him left a foul taste in his mouth, and if he got home in time to catch Alfred cleaning, he wouldn't waste a moment in going to help him.

It could be anything from taking the clothes out of the dryer to scrubbing some stains that neither could put a date to off of the walls, and Dick would never hesitate to assist however he could. Alfred would always insist that he didn't need the help, but that was probably the only argument that he'd ever lose against the youngest of the household.

One day, the two of them were going through a presumably unused closet on the third floor. The intention was to find the vacuum that sounded like a dog barking when it ran over wood floors as Alfred swore up and down was still stored somewhere in the house, but instead, they found the space to be stuffed full of pillows of all sizes, shapes, and colors.

For a long moment, the two just stood there, trying to make sense of it. The closet was fairly large, in comparison to some of the closets in the manor, at about 12x16 if they were to judge just by appearance, and about every inch in that 12x16 span was covered by pillows. There was some breathe room, probably to prevent the thick wall of pillows from collapsing out over the unfortunate victim to open the closet, but everything else was some kind of pillow.

Alfred was in some kind of shock. He had worked in the manor two or three times Dick's own lifespan. He had to have passed this closet at once a week, and never had he known that it had existed. Never had so much concern passed through someone's face concerning pillows before.

Dick on the other hand was elated. There was a mystery before him and he was going to get to the bottom of it- or at least the back of it, in terms of the closet. The pillows weren't as tightly stacked as one might've assumed and he managed to burrow himself into the mess pretty easily, but he was making his way back out moments later.

"Too dark to see anything. I didn't feel any corpses though, so that only leaves one option," he grinned smugly, smoothing out his shirt delicately.

Alfred looked his way curiously.

"Pillow fort."

When the old man tossed his head back in a delighted chuckle at the thought, the ebony joined him, a happy tint in his cheeks.

"I'm serious! Look at him! You can't tell me Bruce isn't the type to build giant pillow forts when no one's around. You come home one night and he's got this big set up in the living room with a 'No Alfred's Allowed' propped between two pillows," he went on, grin growing wider as Alfred laughed harder.

That's when it started.

Knowing Bruce wouldn't be home until the next morning, they spent the majority of the afternoon moving as many pillows as they could carry down into the Bat Cave where they proceeded to build the biggest pillow fort that they could manage without knocking it collapsing in on itself. They even wrote their own ' No Alfred's Allowed' note and stuffed it next to the opening of the fort.

They left it there, both promising secrecy and continuing on with their days. When Bruce got back, a long few weeks started where the Dynamic Duo weren't needed specifically. They went up to Mount Justice for training exercises and some catch up, but there was a good two month span when the world was generally calm and didn't need saving. It got to the point that Dick forgot about the pillow fort.

Life went on and he worried about AP Government and Honors French 3 and everything else that came with the struggles of being a teenager. He had homework upon homework and training simulations to run and enough stress to break steel.

After a pretty rough day of tests and the general drama that comes with high school, it was nothing short of relief to get a text from Bruce saying that he'd be home earlier. There was some kind of comfort in the familiarity and he would take it.

When he got home, he threw his stuff down by the door, mentally preparing himself for the scolding Alfred would toss his way when he saw, and searched the regular places to try and find Bruce. A quick run through the house made it seem like he was the only one home, though. Even Alfred hadn't showed up yet. After moving his backpack up into his room to avoid the scolding, he made his way down to the Bat Cave as a last resort. Relief swelled through him again to find some of the lights already on.

"Bruce?" he paused on the metal landing that started the stairs, letting the echo work itself out until the room was quiet again.

The worry was still there, but he kept some optimism about him, keeping mindful of where his utility belt was just in case. His quick footsteps tapped out down the stairs and he made his way over to the Bat Computer, a little surprised to find that Bruce wasn't seated in front of it.

"Bruce?" he repeated, a little less sure.

When he turned, he was met with two great sights.

The great pillow fort he and Alfred had constructed two months ago still stood in perfect condition, and inside lay Batman, attention on his phone that wound up serving as the only light in the little fortress.

When he seemed to notice Dick's presence, he looked up from his phone and obviously struggled to keep down a smile.

"Although I appreciate your efforts, you should've valued the structure over the size," Bruce criticized, setting his phone down and drowning the little fort in darkness. "Some sky lights would've benefited the attendees greatly."

Dick couldn't help but give a little snicker, folding his arms over his chest.

"You think you're so good with architecture? Let's see you build a better one," he challenged, smile growing to a crooked grin as the man crawled out in full costume.

"I happen to be quite the expert," he claimed with a breathy laugh, slipping his cowl to the back of his neck, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to do all of the work for you. This is going to be a team exercise."

He kicked out the main support of the fortress and it crumpled in a satisfying fashion.

"And what exactly is this exercise going to be over?" Dick teased, helping to move the pillows off to the side to clear the area for construction.

They both moved the pillows off to the side until the area was cleared off, the note tacked between the pillows now resting on the keyboard. Bruce looked over their building supplies with great consideration, gaze flickering from the mass of pillows to the empty space before them.

"You never know when you'll have to build a pillow fort to escape the enemy, Dick. This is valuable knowledge."

"Right," Dick said, pressing his lips to try and keep back his grin.

Bruce had to look away to keep from grinning himself and walked out towards the construction zone, pulling his cowl back up over his face like a construction hat.

"Hand me one of the longer pillows. I think I have an idea."

* * *

When dinner time came around and neither of the other two occupants of the house would respond to his call, Alfred took it upon himself to go and seek them out. It didn't take long to find them both in the Bat Cave, sound asleep in a pretty pathetic looking pillow fort. He could only laugh as he left them to sleep, leaving the back lights on for when they decided to come back upstairs.

* * *

**-F.J. III**


End file.
